April 10: Impartial love

Wiley Richards is a retired professor of theology and philosophy at The Baptist College of Florida in Graceville.

Bestowing impartial love means we do not favor one side or person more than another. Although we readily assent to the practice in an ideal world, the real world easily intrudes. To be honest, we just do not like some people. Perhaps we can get an easier handle on our feelings if we discover the harm coming from a love that plays favorites, especially in church.

• To begin, showing partiality in love demeans Christ’s example (v. 1). Christ’s faith could be interpreted as an internal quality in referring to His personal faith. It also speaks of the body of truth He taught. Romans 2:4 illustrates that use. In His ministry He dealt with people from all walks of life, rejecting none because of social standing or even moral character.

The KJV invokes the three-fold title of Lord (our Lord’s standing as Master), Jesus (His role as Savior), and Christ (God’s anointed One who fulfills the Old Testament prophecies and symbols). The KJV also includes the phrase “the Lord of glory,” a hint at His exalted position at the right hand of the Father. Jesus laid these positions aside in order to die as would a common criminal. Therefore, to elevate or avoid anyone in the church casts aside the standard He set.

• Second, showing partiality among the gathered Body of Christ reveals an evil heart (vv. 2-4). The Bible creates a hypothetical case to test our love for all people. Suppose a rich man enters the congregation, dressed in his finery and obvious jewelry. The members would probably fall all over themselves in effusive greetings and offers to take a place of honor, perhaps on the podium. If the assembly would not treat a man in ragged clothes the same way, then why not? The “evil heart” is revealed in two ways. First, such treatment ignores the method of Jesus who ministered to the social outcasts. Further, honoring the rich man showed they could have been “cultivating” him in the hopes of financial support.

God surely has a sense of humor. One night as I was preaching at the First Baptist Church in Cottondale, located on U.S. 231, a street person straggled in from the cold, walked down the aisle, sat down on the front pew, and went to sleep. I had just read James 2:2. I don’t remember how the members reacted, but it drastically changed the way I was presenting the sermon.

• Showing partiality in love disapproves divine strategy (vv. 5-11). Although Jesus attracted some of the rich and famous such as Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, and some priests, He made His greatest impact among the common people, such as fishermen and other “sinners” as the Pharisees described the people (Luke 15:2). In His Sermon on the Mount, He began His first Beatitude by showing the necessity of His followers as being “poor in spirit” (Matt. 5:3). Recognition of one’s spiritual bankruptcy precedes the new birth. What the Bible calls the “royal law” requires the love of all people irrespective of race, national origin, or cultural standing.

• Finally showing partiality toward others invites God’s chastisement (vv. 12-13). The law of liberty which the new birth by God’s mercy opened to us, frees us to live for Christ, liberated from the bondage of the law. However, God evaluates (judges) us according to the way we use our freedom. To stand in awe of the rich while despising the poor can be a form of a cruel and unusual punishment. They feel crushed by being shut out of the fellowship of believers. We cannot help believing Jesus would take His seat among the abused poor.